There are several known toy action figures which employ a pistol type grip or hand held base for driving movement of the toy figure. Additionally, several known toy action figures employ punching mechanisms for extending arm appendages in a punching action or attacking movement through a manual actuator and/or game base linked to the action figures. None of the known action figures however, employ a dual action actuator with a working surface accessible through one or more actuator access openings for manual and controller activation of the same action movements.
An animating device for toy figures for selectively swinging a toy figure's leg or arm through simulated activities upon actuation of a trigger on a pistol type hand grip, is exemplified and disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,874,112, issued Apr. 1, 1975 to Sapkus et al. for “Animating Device for Figure Toys”. Sapkus has a pistol-type hand grip in which the trigger swings a primary lever which moves a push rod into engagement with a secondary lever. The push rod and secondary lever are carried by a slotted sleeve rotatably mounted in the hollow barrel portion of the hand grip. The sleeve rotates through first, second, and third positions to adjust the secondary lever to swing a leg, release a latch to simulate a batters swing and position the lever to engage an arm mechanism, respectively. Additionally, a multiple limb puppet actuated by multiple triggers is exemplified and disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,476,650, issued Oct. 16, 1984 to Lokvig for “Trigger Actuated Puppet”. Lokvig discloses puppet limbs pivotably connected to a puppet body and activated by strings connected at one end to the limbs and the other end to trigger assemblies in the pistol grip. The trigger assemblies can selectively activate specific limbs of the puppet without entanglement of the strings.
An action figure providing a kicking action actuated by a hand-held base is disclosed and exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 5,458,523, issued Oct. 17, 1995 to Aoki et al. for “Action Character Figure Assembly” and assigned to Hasbro, Inc. Aoki discloses a character figure releasably mounted on a first leg on an elongated base employing a control mechanism for rapidly rotating the figure about the axis of the first leg to cause the figure to perform a kicking action with a second leg.
A combat toy figure pair is disclosed and exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 6,280,286, issued Aug. 28, 2001 to Andrews, for “Toy Figure Pair Simulating Combat”. Andrews discloses a first figure including a rotatably supported toggle in communication with a pair of arms to simulate a punching action. A second figure includes a wheel plate and plurality of wheels. The first figure punches the second figure through manipulation of the toggle and the second figure responds by rolling away when struck. Another known toy action figure configured to manually move between various positions is disclosed and exemplified in US Patent Application US 2006/0292965 A1, published Dec. 28, 2006 to Strauss for “Toy Figures”. Strauss discloses a toy figure with a first limb extending from a body including a first upper member and first lower member operatively connected through a first gear assembly to move the first upper and lower members between a retracted and extended positions. A manual actuator connected to the body translates linear movement of the manual actuator to rotary movement of the gear of the first gear assembly.
An action toy mounted on a platform and employing a punching mechanism for extending arm appendages in a punching action is disclosed and exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 8,137,151, issued Mar. 20, 2012 to Kenny for “Action Toy”. A number of gear mechanisms and/or rods extending through the toy figure to buttons and/or switches in a controller(s) cooperate to move the limbs of the toy figure. Additionally, movement of the toy figure relative to a platform upon which it is mounted utilizes a base member coupled to a base portion upon which the toy figure is mounted. The controller moves the base member with the help of a first and second ball joint linked to the base member, which in turn moves the base portion and mounted toy figure along the platform.
Similarly, a fighting figure game employing a gear driven punching mechanism and toy figures mounted on a platform is disclosed and exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 7,475,881, issued Jan. 13, 2009 to Blagg et al. for “Fighting Figure Game. Control assemblies coupled to a platform and associated figures are manipulated to fight with each other and with head elements of each figure configured to move between first and second positions upon impact to the figure.
Significantly, known action toy figures do not include a footing assembly in combination with a dual action actuator employing a working surface accessible through one or more actuator access openings of the footing assembly for driving an action movement of the toy figure by both a user's fingers and a variety of controllers secured to the footing. Further, known action toy figures do not include a dual action actuator having two working surfaces accessible through two different openings in a figure's footing assembly. It would be desirable to provide a footing assembly with an elevational opening and an underside opening and a dual action actuator within the footing assembly and engaging the torso assembly through a linkage and gear mechanism for driving movement of the torso assembly with respect to the footing assembly.